AN: So many reviews! It's cool to know that people enjoy my story. I learn from your criticisms so please give me feedback so this story can improve even more.
Also, I'm not very good at writing Malfoy as he seems to end up a little too cowardly. I'm just of the opinion that Alucard wouldn't like him very much because he hides behind people and flaunts his status, same with a lot of Slytherin. It's not that he's bad at magic, it's that I don't think any of the students would stand much of a chance against Alucard, especially if he took offense to them.
He was terrified, sprinting as fast as possible, his legs burning his chest constricting. Fallen braches and thorny vines tear at his robes, threatening to trip him and scratching at his ankles. Glancing behind him he sees endless red eyes glowing out from an impenetrable darkness encroaching on the already dim forest. A shadowy hand emerged from the darkness seizing his shoulder in a painful clawed grasp. He squirmed trying to shake the hold, but the grip was like iron, unyielding and unmovable. "You cannot escape me Mister Harry Potter," a low, smooth voice taunted echoing from no discernable direction and a haunting chuckle echoed from the blackness.
"Harry," whispered the voice, now originating from a toothy maw that seemed to come from within the darkness.
The grin grew impossibly wide, exposing more teeth in a frightening display of inhuman dentistry, "Harry," the voice said again, seeming to be slightly different than before. The mouth came closer slowly, steadily.
"No! Stay away Monster!" Harry screeched at the approaching mouth.
"Harry?" A different voice asked as the mouth neared even closer and the beginnings of a face became visible.
"Harry…Harry?" The maw disappeared and Harry whipped his head around in a panic.
Cold air washed over his neck as the maw became visible just over his shoulder and he could see sickly drool dripping from dagger-like fangs. The face was now completely visible and Harry saw the unnaturally pale countenance of the new defense teacher looming over his shoulder, his mouth filled with the dangerous teeth.
Fangs scraped needle-like over his neck and Harry screamed.
"Harry! Wake up!" Ron's voice shouted loudly.
Harry bolted up, snapping into consciousness as the forest disappeared to reveal his dorm room. He was still panting and looking around wildly.
"Harry? Are you alright," Ron's concerned expression looked down at Harry.
"Yea," he said slowly, feeling at his neck, still feeling the phantom breath wash over his neck. He glanced warily at the shadowed corners of the room, checking for the monster. Once he had assured himself that the monster was truly gone he looked back at Ron.
"Are you sure?"
"Yea."
"Was it about…" he paused and leaned in to whisper, "You-Know-Who?"
"No, just a nightmare. I'm fine."
The common room was almost empty, just a few stragglers left who were slowly leaving to wander to breakfast in the great hall, and one bushy haired girl waiting patiently in one of the overstuffed armchairs facing the fireplace. Harry and Ron emerged from the boys dorm and she turned to face them, "Hey Ron, Harry," she said pleasantly then her eyes widened looking at Harry's untamed hair and dark circles under his eyes, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Harry responded shortly.
"You sure? You look awful."
"Just a nightmare, I'll be fine. I've had worse."
The common room was completely empty by this time and Ron started looking towards the door. "If we don't head to the great hall soon we're gonna miss breakfast," he said, glancing around the empty room.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Honestly Ron, always thinking with your stomach."
Harry gave a half-hearted chuckle as Ron blushed and they exited the common room to walk towards the great hall.
They entered the hall and Harry hesitated, feeling the familiar cold oppressive aura even as the hallway itself was filled with the excited chatter of many enthusiastic students becoming reacquainted with friends. He gagged at the view of the ugly pink toad he was graced with as he glanced at the teachers table, then shuddered as he followed the table to see the defense teacher, Alucard, with his yellowed glasses shining out from the shadow of his large hat and concealing his gaze, making him more disconcerting.
"Awwww man. We've got double potions, divinations and defense with that creepy new teacher," Ron moaned as he looked over the schedule for the day.
"At least give him a chance," Hermione reprimanded half-heartedly, feeling just as hesitant about the new teacher. Harry just tried to swallow his food as his appetite disappeared, imagining being caught in a room with Alucard again.
Ron scoffed, "Give him a chance? He's a bloody vampire!"
"Dumbledore hired him, he hasn't done us wrong yet." Hermione reminded him patiently and then continued, "We still know next to nothing about him. All we know is he's a vampire, we don't know what type or level."
"Don't forget about his terrible sense of humor. We learned about that too." Harry mumbled only to be ignored by the others.
"A vampire is a vampire." Ron quipped.
Hermione huffed at his ignorance, "Not true, there are many types. It makes a huge difference."
"I suppose you're going to tell us he's a 'good vampire'?" Ron answered as Harry silently agreed with Ron's argument.
"I never said that. I just think that we should research vampires to see what type he is. Dumbledore is no fool, he wouldn't allow him to teach if he was dangerous."
"Oooh, the mudblood doesn't know everything?" Malfoy appeared uninvited behind Harry and intruded into the conversation.
"Get lost Malfoy," Ron bit back.
"Says the blood traitor who feels the need to spread rumors about the new teacher because he's scared." Malfoy ridiculed.
"Oh shut it," Harry snapped.
"What are you going to do…hmmm?" he paused as the trio glared at him, "Nothing" he concluded, "I thought so. Well we'll see how great you are in defense class. I've heard that Professor Alucard is going to take a hands-on approach; I'll enjoy watching you fail." He laughed but glanced nervously at the new teacher unable to hide his apprehension and wandered off to the Slytherin table leaving the trio to glare.
"Load of codswollop, divinations is," Hermione seethed on their way from divinations to defense class.
"Do you suppose that any of it's true?" Harry asked, wondering how he should react to being told that he supposedly had received the worst omen possible from a bunch of soppy leaves in a teacup.
Ron looked thoughtful for a moment "No, nothing ever comes of Trelawney's predictions."
They reached the massive black door of the new defense room and hesitated apprehensively wondering what the class would be like this time.
The door opened autonomously with a groaning creak and revealed a cold stone room, empty of anything except chairs, without desks, lining the bleak stone walls. The students shifted their feet nervously as they awaited the class with the terrifying teacher. The arrangement allowed the most possible floor space to be open, alluding to an interesting class.
Professor Alucard had yet to arrive even with only a few minutes until class was supposed to begin.
"So you did actually show up. I had my doubts," Malfoy sneered from behind Harry.
Hermione turned her head just enough to glimpse the pompous Slytherins face, "Just leave, nobody wants you here."
"I don't care what a mudblood wants."
"What did you call her?" Ron spat venomously.
"Of course a muggle-loving blood traitor would hang around with muggle-borns. Your mom would be so proud, though with your family multiplying like bunnies I suppose she can spare a few children as failures."
"You leave my family out of this," Ron seethed.
"And what are you going to do?"
Before Hermione could stop him Ron stood and slammed his fist into Malfoy's cheek, hitting solidly. Malfoy brought his hand to his cheek looking very surprised. He opened his mouth to make some kind of pointless threat but was stopped by dark chuckling emanating from the middle of the room where the Professor now stood looking very amused.
"Professor, he hit me! I demand consequence! Take house points for this barbarianism." Malfoy screeched indignantly.
Alucard arched an elegant eyebrow, "Why?" He simply smiled showing off the tips of his fangs.
Malfoy stared disbelievingly, "He hit me. What do you mean 'Why?'"
"It was a good punch, even if it was a little weak." His head turned so he was directly facing Ron who cringed at the attention, "Next time, put more weight behind your punch. It will cause more damage." All the students in the classroom were completely floored; was he really not going to punish Ron for blatant violence?
Malfoy recovered and looked murderous, "I'll tell my father about this."
"Are you so useless that you have to hide behind your father? Nobility truly has fallen."
Malfoy gaped like a fish, unbelieving of what he just heard. Then his gaze hardened as he posed, stepping forward menacingly, "Do you know who I am? I'll have you fired."
Alucard's harsh laughter echoed in the bare classroom, "Are you going to attack me? I wish you luck. Even your beloved noble father cannot defend you against me," he gave Malfoy his full toothy smirk, revealing a full maw of dripping daggers as he cackled. Malfoy stumbled backwards as fast as he could, landing on his butt and gaping up at the crazy laughing professor as he scrambled back to his chair.
Still chuckling Alucard looked around the classroom at the terrified students. "What a bunch of pathetic cowards. No wonder Dumbledore thinks you're unready for conflict. You're totally hopeless."
Some students looked affronted, but didn't dare speak out against the professor.
"Okay coward," he said looking at Malfoy as his glasses glinted even in the dim light of the room, "I want to see how hopeless you are. I hope you can at least cast a decent shielding spell since you are so fond of hiding."
To the astonishment of the class he didn't pull out a wand, but simply pointed at Malfoy causing a spark to fly towards him. Stunned by the suddenness of the change in topic and Alucard's wandless magic, he failed to shield himself in time and was thrown backwards into a very solid wall leaving him dazed. Hermione looked thoughtful at the new ability that he had just revealed, but it still wasn't enough to categorize the type of vampire as anything other than 'powerful.'
Alucard looked thoroughly put off by the lack of resistance and gazed around the classroom again. The students whimpered when he faced them. "Pair up and practice shield spells," he sneered, "you should at least be able to defend yourselves against each other." His footsteps thudded loudly in the silent classroom as he walked to the corner and took post like a morbid sentry.
The class shuffled into action, not wanting to annoy the professor any further and started their spells, praying that the teacher wouldn't single them out. Both Griffindor and Slytherin had moderate luck, the Griffindors with better shields and the Slytherins with better hexes. Alucard watched, amused at the showing, especially as several Slytherin hexes shattered some of the weaker Slytherin shields, causing the targeted students to dive wildly out of the way of the hexes.
This seemed to work until a stray blasting hex rushed towards the corner. The spell hit the teacher but had no effect other than to slightly push at the tails of his long coat. The class fell silent in horrified anticipation of the crazy teacher's reaction. Sunglasses glinted menacingly as Alucard followed the path of the spell to its possible origin. His eyes landed on a terrified pudgy boy who stared horrified at the direction that his spell had gone awry. Neville numbly wondered if he would be tormented as Malfoy had.
Alucard stepped forward towards Neville, who stood frozen like a deer in headlights. "You hit me," Neville paled more as Alucard neared.
"I…I…I'm s…sorry," he blubbered towards the looming presence while staring at his feet, now only a few feet away.
Alucard's gloved fingers brushed under Neville's chin forcing him to look the Professor in the eye, or at least at the sunglasses. "Care to explain?"
"It w…was an a…a…accident."
"Magic has no physical effect on me, but even I can tell when a spell is weak. Care to revise your explanation and tell me why you aren't casting the spell correctly?"
Neville's eyes widened when he realized why the teacher was annoyed and then looked away even as he couldn't move his head because of the teacher holding his chin up. "I'm just no good," Neville mumbled ashamed, "are you going to give me detention now?" he continued mumbling, much to Alucard annoyance.
Alucard's eyes sparked with humor, "Detention?" he barked, "No. And I'm not taking any of your treasured house points either." Neville's eyes snapped back to the teacher, startled. "I'm going to tell you to improve your spell. If it hasn't improved by next class you will discover my method of discipline," he chuckled. Neville stood frozen, eyes wide, and wondered what would happen next when Alucard removed his fingers from under Neville's chin. "Well? What are you waiting for? You're perfectly capable of these spells; I can smell the magic on you. You're powerful enough, but your hesitation makes your spells worthless. Figure it out. I'll expect that hex spell and that shielding spell perfect by next class. I suggest you get started practicing before I get impatient."
Neville scrambled back to his partner, who looked pityingly at him before continuing their practice. Surprisingly, Neville's spells were already slightly more powerful and accurate as he gained confidence in his abilities as he realized what the teacher had actually said to him.
Hermione gulped and looked towards Malfoy, who was sitting on the floor still looking dazed from what clearly must have been an overpowered spell, no normal strength pushing hex could leave somebody dazed for such a length of time. Then she looked to the professor who had yet to move since he went to the corner. Standing unnaturally still is a sign of an old vampire since young vampires do not quickly forego their human need to fidget.
The thought, while not exactly comforting, at least alluded towards the teacher being old enough to not experience uncontrolled bloodlust. Even though she didn't like Malfoy, it seemed wrong to just let him sit there injured. She cleared her throat quietly and walked towards Alucard who turned to look at her. "Excuse me, Professor, shouldn't somebody take Malfoy to the hospital wing."
He glanced at the boy still sitting by the wall and resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "He's still dazed from such a soft hit? Useless. Get one of his annoying Slytherin goons to take him to the hospital wing if you want. I don't care." Crabb heard this and hurriedly helped Malfoy out of the room anxious for any excuse to escape the class. Alucard sighed at the display of cowardice and turned to Hermione again who did her best to meet his gaze, even though she couldn't see his eyes.
Alucard noticed, and glanced at Harry and Ron along with a few other students who were both performing good shielding spells and hexes, "I suppose not all of you are completely hopeless," he murmured just loud enough for Hermione to catch. Then, he looked at some of the Slytherins whose matches had degenerated into pathetically diving out of the way of poorly aimed jinxes and hexes, not even trying to cast the shielding spell, and several of the Griffindors who appeared to have quit practicing entirely, "only most of you."